Thursday (Nisan 14): The time has come!

Bible Text: Matthew 26:17-46; John 13-17

Devotional thought:It’s Thursday. Jesus has spent the week back and forth between Jerusalem and Bethany but the time has come. This is it. Jesus sends a couple of his disciples to prepare the passover meal. He will eat his last supper with them tonight. This sacred meal that they’re eating together is in remembrance of a night long ago. On that night in Egypt the blood of a spotless lamb would save God’s people from death. Now, a few thousand years later, the perfect lamb of God was preparing to make his way to the cross. Jesus was the master of seizing teachable moments and he certainly took advantage of some tonight. After the meal he got up, removed his outer garments and broke with the normal tradition of the night. He took some water and a towel and washed the feet of his disciples. He was teaching them was leadership looked like. Some time after washing their feet, they began to sing. The last song of the night was Psalm 118. Imagine the moment……it’s late, they just ate the passover meal, Jesus instituted the Lord’s supper, washed their feet & told them to love one another. Now, as a culmination of the evening, they sing this song together. One of the lines in this ancient song is “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Now Jesus makes his way towards the garden of Gethsemane with his disciples. John chapters 15, 16 & 17 give us a glimpse into what Jesus taught his disciples on the way to the garden. Stop for a couple of minutes and read these three chapters together. What an incredible glimpse into an intimate moment between Jesus and those closest to him!

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” John 15:7 - 11

Jesus would continue on into the garden. He would spend some time praying there. Then, in the dark of the night, Judas showed up with the soldiers. He had been betrayed. Jesus went quietly with the mob. He didn’t run, didn’t panic, didn’t argue. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to finish what he had come to do. This would prove to be a terrible night. The disciples were scattered. Jesus was beaten, shamed, mocked, denied, put on trial, falsely accused and ultimately rejected by the Jews.

As we remember the story, it is good for us to learn from what we recount. Spend a few minutes discussing some of the things that Jesus tells his disciples on this night…

{Take this cup, Eat this bread….all in remembrance of me.Love one another. Abide in meI am the Vine, you are the branches}

Other Questions:Jesus said “I am the vine and you are the branches.” What did he mean?{we can only live and bear fruit when we are attached to him….apart from him, on our own we can do nothing}

What does abide mean? How can we abide in His love?{Abide means to live or dwell somewhere….to make a home there. John 15:10-11 tells us how to abide in His love.}

Prayer:Father help us to remember these stories well. We confess that it is easy to forget or grow insensitive the the things we find in your word. Help us to love each other and to abide in your love. Thank you for providing an account of the events of this special night. Thank you for sending Jesus to die so that we might live. Amen.